Regional and State Water Supply Planning Discipline Leader
Listed on 2026-06-27
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Engineering
Environmental Engineer, Water Management
Regional and State Water Supply Planning Discipline Leader
Job Description
This is a strategic leadership position to serve as a Discipline Leader (DL) for Regional and State Water Planning in our One Water Community of Practice. The DL will assist in developing creative approaches to the planning for multi‑jurisdictional groups, coalitions, state agencies, and stakeholders during both the pursuit and delivery phase of projects. The DL works alongside the One Water Practice Leader (PL) and other leaders in the One Water Practice, and also with other DLs in other practices due to the multi‑disciplinary nature of large‑scale planning studies.
The DL will help grow the firm’s technical capabilities and industry presence through involvement in R&D projects, professional society committee engagement, developing conference abstracts or journal articles, and visible conference attendance.
As a strategic member of the CDM Smith team, you will help develop new tools that can grow our technical capabilities, develop current and new team members interested in regional and state water supply planning, and work closely with Client Service Leaders (CSLs) and Sales Leaders across the country to identify, prioritize, pre‑sell, and pursue work that is mutually beneficial to CDM Smith and our clients.
You will be empowered to deliver innovative solutions while interacting effectively with clients, company management, project team members, and vendors. This role requires strong communication and teamwork involving staff from various disciplines.
Main responsibilities include:
- Provides guidance and coordinates with subject matter experts on the delivery of regional and state water plans and water supply plans for individual utilities with regional resources, including coordination with regional team leaders on project staffing needs.
- Collaborates with the One Water PL and sales staff to support Requests for Proposals, reviews draft proposals for adherence to regulations and best practices, and meets with current and potential clients to review their planning needs. Helps identify opportunities for clients to work with regional partners.
- Attends and presents at conferences, symposia, and other events to promote the firm’s products and services with the PLs, DLs, and sales staff.
- Provides technical guidance and training to senior, mid‑level, and junior staff on large‑scale supply planning projects with regional impact, mentors staff for future growth, and supervises work of staff on project work, delegating to SMEs as necessary.
The ideal candidate will have excellent verbal and written communication skills, strong knowledge of water supply planning and management policies, capital projects, alternative supplies, demand management, consensus‑building, and stakeholder facilitation. The ideal candidate will also recognize when CDM Smith needs to steer a client/stakeholder group and when to help them steer themselves through facilitation and technical support.
Qualifications- Bachelor’s degree in Environmental, Civil, Coastal or Chemical Engineering or related discipline.
- Professional engineering (PE) license.
- 12 years of related experience (or equivalent additional directly related experience in lieu of a degree).
- Domestic and/or international travel may be required.
An appropriate and valid driver’s license is required.
Preferred Qualifications- Strong creative problem‑solving skills and strategic thinking.
- Ph.D. or Master’s degree in Environmental, Civil/Environmental Engineering, Water Resources Engineering, or related discipline (Planning, for example).
- Active participation and leadership positions with local and national professional organizations and associations.
- Past leadership roles in projects across multiple states.
- Experience with stakeholder facilitation on multi‑disciplinary projects.
- Experience working on water demand and supply planning projects.
- Documented experience with water supply modeling software (CDM Smith’s Water Integration Tool, GoldSIM, WEAP, SWAM, and MCDA tools such as Criterion Decision Plus and EVAMIX).
- Expert knowledge of geospatial data analysis at detailed and…
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